Human-Induced Disturbance Alters Pollinator Communities in Tropical Mountain Forests
Mountain forest ecosystems in the Andes are threatened by deforestation. Increasing fire frequencies lead to fire-degraded habitats that are often characterized by a persistent fern-dominated vegetation. Little is known about the consequences of these drastic changes in habitat conditions for pollin...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2012-12-01
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| Series: | Diversity |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/5/1/1 |
| _version_ | 1811278920823078912 |
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| author | Matthias Schleuning Stephan G. Beck Isabell Hensen Stephan Kambach Fernando Guerra |
| author_facet | Matthias Schleuning Stephan G. Beck Isabell Hensen Stephan Kambach Fernando Guerra |
| author_sort | Matthias Schleuning |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Mountain forest ecosystems in the Andes are threatened by deforestation. Increasing fire frequencies lead to fire-degraded habitats that are often characterized by a persistent fern-dominated vegetation. Little is known about the consequences of these drastic changes in habitat conditions for pollinator communities. In a rapid diversity assessment, we collected individuals of two major groups of insect pollinators (bees and butterflies/moths) with pan traps and compared pollinator diversities in a spatial block design between forest interior, forest edge and adjacent fire-degraded habitats at eight sites in the Bolivian Andes. We found that bee species richness and abundance were significantly higher in fire-degraded habitats than in forest habitats, whereas species richness and abundance of butterflies/moths increased towards the forests interior. Species turnover between forest and fire-degraded habitats was very high for both pollinator groups and was reflected by an increase in the body size of bee species and a decrease in the body size of butterfly/moth species in fire-degraded habitats. We conclude that deforestation by frequent fires has profound impacts on the diversity and composition of pollinator communities. Our tentative findings suggest shifts towards bee-dominated pollinator communities in fire-degraded habitats that may have important feedbacks on the regenerating communities of insect-pollinated plant species. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T00:45:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-685642276cf74bdbb0bf760c26cb6bdc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-2818 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T00:45:21Z |
| publishDate | 2012-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Diversity |
| spelling | doaj.art-685642276cf74bdbb0bf760c26cb6bdc2022-12-22T03:10:02ZengMDPI AGDiversity1424-28182012-12-015111410.3390/d5010001Human-Induced Disturbance Alters Pollinator Communities in Tropical Mountain ForestsMatthias SchleuningStephan G. BeckIsabell HensenStephan KambachFernando GuerraMountain forest ecosystems in the Andes are threatened by deforestation. Increasing fire frequencies lead to fire-degraded habitats that are often characterized by a persistent fern-dominated vegetation. Little is known about the consequences of these drastic changes in habitat conditions for pollinator communities. In a rapid diversity assessment, we collected individuals of two major groups of insect pollinators (bees and butterflies/moths) with pan traps and compared pollinator diversities in a spatial block design between forest interior, forest edge and adjacent fire-degraded habitats at eight sites in the Bolivian Andes. We found that bee species richness and abundance were significantly higher in fire-degraded habitats than in forest habitats, whereas species richness and abundance of butterflies/moths increased towards the forests interior. Species turnover between forest and fire-degraded habitats was very high for both pollinator groups and was reflected by an increase in the body size of bee species and a decrease in the body size of butterfly/moth species in fire-degraded habitats. We conclude that deforestation by frequent fires has profound impacts on the diversity and composition of pollinator communities. Our tentative findings suggest shifts towards bee-dominated pollinator communities in fire-degraded habitats that may have important feedbacks on the regenerating communities of insect-pollinated plant species.http://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/5/1/1Anthropogenic firesApiformesbiodiversitybody sizeBolivian Andeshuman disturbanceinsect pollinatorsLepidopterarain forestspecies traits |
| spellingShingle | Matthias Schleuning Stephan G. Beck Isabell Hensen Stephan Kambach Fernando Guerra Human-Induced Disturbance Alters Pollinator Communities in Tropical Mountain Forests Diversity Anthropogenic fires Apiformes biodiversity body size Bolivian Andes human disturbance insect pollinators Lepidoptera rain forest species traits |
| title | Human-Induced Disturbance Alters Pollinator Communities in Tropical Mountain Forests |
| title_full | Human-Induced Disturbance Alters Pollinator Communities in Tropical Mountain Forests |
| title_fullStr | Human-Induced Disturbance Alters Pollinator Communities in Tropical Mountain Forests |
| title_full_unstemmed | Human-Induced Disturbance Alters Pollinator Communities in Tropical Mountain Forests |
| title_short | Human-Induced Disturbance Alters Pollinator Communities in Tropical Mountain Forests |
| title_sort | human induced disturbance alters pollinator communities in tropical mountain forests |
| topic | Anthropogenic fires Apiformes biodiversity body size Bolivian Andes human disturbance insect pollinators Lepidoptera rain forest species traits |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/5/1/1 |
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